Guest post by Cher Nicholas, board member of the Hatfield Historical Society, and member of the Association for Gravestone Studies Western New England Chapter. If you missed this fascinating event, we hope to give you a taste here. My apologies for taking so long to get this posted!

On Thursday, May 12, 2016, the Hatfield Historical Society held their annual meeting at the Hatfield American Legion on Elm Street in Hatfield. The guest speaker for this meeting was Jonathan Appell, a gravestone conservator and a Trustee of the Association of Gravestones Studies. Jonathan gave members and guests an excellent presentation and a conservation update of “The Hill” cemetery gravestones. He also provided an extensive walking tour of our historic Hill cemetery.

Jonathan Appell Hill cemetery tour. Photo by Charlie Kellogg.

This presentation was the result of Jonathan’s restoration work on the gravestones during the summer of 2015. The Town of Hatfield, through a Community Preservation Act (CPA) grant, was able to fund repair work to many broken and damaged gravestones in the Hill cemetery. Jonathan spent many weeks at the Hill, performing conservation work on some beautiful historic stones that had fallen into disrepair. The Hill has many Colonial and Victorian Era stones and is the oldest cemetery in town. The oldest gravestone in the cemetery dates to 1680 (one of the oldest gravestones is pictured here).

Photo by Kathie Gow

Jonathan started his discussion with a 30-minute walking tour of the Hill graveyard. He described the conservation work he performed on more than 70 stones. He showed the group examples of repaired fractured stones (see image below) and described his process for resetting sunken and leaning stones to their proper height. During the walking tour, he pointed to the many different material types used for gravestones at different times, including marble, brownstone, slate and granite. We also have a gravestone made out of schist.

During the walking tour, the group learned many interesting facts about gravestones and cemeteries. For example, the Hill is not officially a ”cemetery” -- it is a graveyard, and Jonathan explained the difference. A cemetery is a plot of land established by the town or city that is dedicated for burials. Families and individuals can preselect lots or family lots for future use. A graveyard, however, is land in which burials took place, but no pre-lot planning occurred. We can see how that occurred in the Hill graveyard where burials and makers of very different periods are intermixed.

Jonathan Appell working in the Hill cemetery, summer 2015. Photo by Cher Nicholas.

After the cemetery tour, the group returned to the Hatfield American Legion building to hear the rest of Jonathan’s presentation and view his slides. He showed us numerous pictures of his conservation and restoration work on the Hill stones. In addition to the conservation work, he also cleaned many discolored stones. The before and after photographs of these stones made it very apparent how discolored the stones were before this process.

Jonathan also showed examples of his restoration work in cemeteries across the country. He explained how he goes about the work to repair the stones and the professional conservation standards he follows. It was interesting to hear that not all grave markers are made from stone. He showed examples of old wooden markers, in the western part of the country, that are still standing and readable after close to 100 years. Another interesting gravestone material he talked about was soapstone. Yes, soapstone! Jonathan said soapstone is actually a very durable material for a grave marker since it is impervious to acids or other environmental situations, like snow, heat, or cold. On the negative side, however, it is soft and can be easily scratched.

Jonathan also showed us examples of marble “sugar” -- which is what it’s called when marble deteriorates due to weather conditions like snow, acid rain, and wind. Over time, the surface of the marble can turn into a fine white dust that resembles sugar. This condition tends to occur in the colder and wetter parts of the country (like New England) and not in the dry southern states.

Photo by Kathie Gow

One point Jonathan stressed to the group, is that even if you see gravestones that are broken, you should not remove broken pieces from the cemetery. He said many pieces of gravestones get lost that way, and gravestone conservators can then never fully repair the stones or relocate them to their proper location.

The audience had many questions for Jonathan after his presentation, which he graciously answered. The Hatfield Historical Society extends their gratitude to Jonathan Appell for his quality restoration work in our oldest cemetery (OK, graveyard) and for his excellent walking tour and presentation.

Cher Nicholas is also a former member of the Hatfield Cemetery Commission, and one of the several volunteers who has taken on mapping Hatfield cemeteries (she’s mapped the Bradstreet and the West Brook cemeteries). She has also just finished her PhD in Engineering at UMass Amherst, so we hope Dr. Nicholas will again find time to indulge her love of cemeteries and perhaps integrate her photos with her cemetery maps!

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Curator's musings...

As the curator of a small town Historical Society museum, I wonder a great many things. Am I alone in these thoughts that come to me while driving, or exercising, or falling asleep at night? Is it unusual to be constructing displays and writing copy in one's head for an enlarged museum space that does not, as yet, exist?

If you're wondering about the blog title, "Bird by bird," see my First Post for an explanation! Click HERE to read it.

When I'm not thinking about our museum or rehousing artifacts with my fellow museum committee members, I'm helping out with the Pioneer Valley History Network (of which I'm a board member), collecting or editing digital oral histories (see words.pictures.stories)or keeping track of my two teenage kids.